Tuesday, April 07, 2015

Our 'illiberal' Future by Imre Bártfai

Last week an American march (Dragoon ride) designed to encourage NATO allies in the Baltic
region ended with a cheerful arrival into Prague, capital of Czech Rep.
American soldiers have been positively surprised. „I feel here like a star”
– remarked one of them. Well, nobody thought it will look like this.

Browsing the comments under European online newspapers
(like Der Spiegel, FAZ, etc.) in facebook frequently shows an anti-American
public opinion, even if we count out the Kremlin trolls. Extreme leftist, and some
populist and right extremist politicians call for a Europe without American
influence. Calls for a new order, less capitalistic and less ’liberal’ are
increasing. It didn't use to be like so.

Road Map of Dragoon March by US Forces in Czech Republic

For a while in the 90’s not just the US, but
liberal democracy seemed to be once and for all victorious in the struggle for
world power. The US achieved hegemony as the USSR dissolved itself, more
quickly and peacefully than anyone could hope. From two conflicting worldviews and superpowers
one vanished. Francis Fukuyama declared the victory of liberal democracy, like
some new (and less careful) Hegel. Has the great conciliation (Versöhnung)
arrived in history? Mankind’s struggle for recognition has finally ended?

The honeymoon proved to be short. A terror attack
of historical magnitude and a disastrous Middle East policy which followed
changed the ’Zeitgeist’. Europeans begun to consider US policy tyrannical and
haughty, and US military presence superfluous.
A new German-French cooperation provided a counterbalance to American
influence. Growing anti-capitalist sentiment found one its targets in the
arch-capitalist, consumer-spirited and militant America which we know from
Michael Moore’s films. With the economical crisis in 2007 not just the global
supremacy of the USA but the whole established consensus about capitalism,
democracy and Western life became objects of scrutiny, or increasingly, strong,
but often unskilled sarcasm. It is disturbing, how many people supports anti-American
politicians and movements uncritically, with a zeal which reminds one to
communist propaganda.

People not only question the role of the USA in
global politics, but question the very existence of European Union, NATO and
even liberal democracy. How so?

The rising threat of 'illiberal democracy”
advances from multiple directions towards Europe. In the East, Russia’s leader,
Vladimir Putin has used the chaos of the crumbling of Soviet empire (which
Brezinski once said, could bury us under itself too[1])
to create an authoritarian, super-nationalistic, propaganda-driven society,
bent on revenge against imagined and real US. wrongdoings. Unlike the Soviets,
Putin’s realm has no idealistic ideology about earthly salvation, and both the
corruption and the oppression from which Russia suffers, are recurring problems
rooting in the history of the area. Russia not only invaded Ukraine, occupied
Crimea and supports Russian rebels in Ukraine, but threatens NATO almost on a
weekly schedule. Popular opinion in Russia and leading ideologists (like
Alexander Dhugin) alike support this militant and on the long run, ineffective
policy.

Putin, one of the richest person on earth[2],
ruling over masses of poor, is just another czar in the disguise of a
democratic leader, and he cultivates both the heritage of the glorious days of
communism and the czars in an unlikely manner. This is the price for Russia’s
lack of integration into the post-Soviet world order, which turned out to be no
world order at all. The combination of aggressive nationalism with
authoritarianism, politically motivated religion and social decay is the TNT of
our times in Eastern Europe and Asia.

In Turkey, where Asia meets Europe, the westernized
development seems to have turned backwards. While Turkey’s economy is advancing
well, its record of human rights is rather horrible.[3]
Recep Tayyip Erdogan rediscovered the Ottoman past with its warlike Islamist
tradition, a heritage which the modernizing Atatürk-regime wanted to push into
the dark rooms of the past, sentenced to silence. As usually, authoritarian
tendencies awake political partisanship, sectarianism and violence, as it
happened last week with a communist guerrilla attack on the ministry of justice.
Turkey was accused of foul play, supporting ISIS against Kurds.[4]

In Hungary, which was once the eminent pupil of
the West, populism, attempts to create an ’illiberal democracy’, corruption and
an oligarchical government rule the day. Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s PM declared
many times (most famously, in a speech in Tusnádfürdő, Romania[5])
that he intends to build an ’illiberal’ (controlled) democracy, and a society
which focuses on hard work and Christian values instead of welfare[6],
and a liberal concern of Human rights. His party governs with a two-third in
parliament, scarcely allowing any opposition proposal to succeed, uses state
media for party propaganda, while drastically curtaining liberty and welfare.
Mr. Orbán tries to keep Russians close while at the same time he both pleases
and kicks the EU, by keeping Maastricht rules and criteria, and verbally
attacking the European Union. This, and corruption cases brought on him US
criticism, (and US entry bans for some corrupt party affiliates) which he
answered with strong anti-American propaganda, declaring the principles of
liberal democracy (like checks and balances)
American and thus foreign inventions, superfluous in Europe. [7]
Greece seems to be also attracted to Russia, and Russian influence on the
Balkans is considerable.

It is very
hard to be prophetic, especially about the future, but if a Republican
government will move the shift of American foreign politics towards the Middle East, neglecting Europe, and if they
will escalate the Israel-Iran problem in that region, we will face bleak
prospects of future. A hawkish
pro-Israel policy will provide no results,and it could push the leaders of Iran
towards more anti-western action and propaganda thereby destroying the last
hopes of younger, more open generations. (And with it the possibility of a
slow, but promising change unlike the swift, but problematic ’Arab spring’.)
The USA cannot handle two crises at once, and there is already one in Europe. New American failures in global politics
would bring a more hostile environment for Western politics, and as a consequence,
America could acquire an urge towards an imagined ’splendid isolation’. (Or
even more failures...)With the USA absent from global crisis centres, chaos
will be inevitable.

While we all know thousand problems of liberal
democracy, like being ineffective against inequality or against lowering
citizen participation, anti-liberal forms of political order are even less
effective in creating stability, welfare and liberty for society. Moreover,
they are usually disastrous. They are no alternatives to liberal democracy,
just as death is no alternative to sickness. Prosperity and social happiness
relies absolutely on political freedom: no authoritarian state ever produced an
affluent society like Norway or the USA in her heyday.Thus the task ahead seems
to put up a staunch defense for Western values and democracy, in the hope of
bettering them in the process. This fight will be inevitable and bitter, but
gives us again a purpose: something to fight for, something which helps
spiritual health and breeds fortitude. Western societies –in my opinion-are in
a dire need of this purpose.

As for anti-Americanism I think it is entirely
irrational. While the global supremacy of the US was dangerous (remember:
ambition must counteract ambition!) even for America herself, not every problem
today can be traced back to American influence. Especially not problems of a
degenerate mass culture, unregulated economy and failures of democratic
liberty. Blaming US for everything is just another form of shaking off
responsibility and applying generalized blame. Many countries today wouldn't even have the
chance to choose any direction in foreign politics if the Western world hadn't
won the Cold War. Criticism in every matter should be factual and not
over-generalized, like blaming entire nations for the actions of one party. If
we really want prosperity and peace, we must focus our attention to the rising
threats against democracy.

In this struggle we have a rendezvous with fate,
like the generation of FDR. It seems though, that we are quite unready for it
yet.

BIBLIOGRAPHY / REFERENCES:

[1]Zbig. The Strategy and Statecraft of Zbigniew
Brzezinski, edited by Charles Gati, John Hopkins University Press, 2013.